Webber dropped from second to seventh at the start of yesterday's race with Horner saying: "Mark's problems were hugely frustrating because it was an ECU issue and that is supplied by a third party - I'll let you guess who that is.

"We lost all telemetry on the formation lap and then you can't do the preparation you need to at the start. That meant he was blind for the start and that ECU issue shut the KERS down as well. So by the time we reset the whole system he'd lost the ground at the start. It's something that they need to get on top of because there has been a lot of issues during testing."

McLaren Electronic Systems supplies the ECUs to all the teams but made changes to its "bulletproof" design in preparation for the new 2014 regulations. While Whitmarsh said McLaren would look in to the issues, he also aimed a retort that they could have been caused by Red Bull itself.

"We'll put our hands up if it's a fault that's derived from the hardware or the BIOS (basic input-output system)," Whitmarsh told Sporting Life. "You can also inflict ECU problems on yourself by how you set it up, but I will look into it. I'll be disappointed if it is our fault because in F1, NASCAR and IndyCar, we've not yet stopped a car, and we're very proud of that record."

The QRU need only make some smart decisions and get rid of the deadwood to ensure the Reds are potent again on the field, and, when that happens, the overall health of Australian rugby will improve dramatically, Greg Growden writes

Paul Pogba said he left Manchester United because he was "disgusted" Sir Alex Ferguson picked a right-back ahead of him in midfield and revealed it caused the breakdown of his relationship with the former manager